


Start Over Again

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-17
Updated: 2010-09-17
Packaged: 2017-10-11 22:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaylee and River are abducted during a stop over. That leaves Kaylee to do something she never thought she would ever do.</p><p>Written for the "rent boys/girls" box on my <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/">hc_bingo</a> card, and is a mashup of alianora's prompts of "Firefly, Kaylee, the day she built a weapon" and "River/Jayne, unwilling."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Start Over Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alianora](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alianora/gifts).



Beylix was dusty and rude and a horrible place for a crash landing, even if there were docks and shipyards and plenty of old trash heaps to look for parts. Kaylee was just about happy anywhere, but Beylix was quite possibly one world in the entire 'verse that she did not like one bit. It certainly didn't help that she had somehow gotten caught in the middle of some kind of turf war near the shipyard. She and River had been shopping for their men; River hadn't wanted to go, saying that the odds were not favorable for a pleasant outcome. But Kaylee had insisted, and River went along with her. They were almost sisters now, and Kaylee had used that to good effect to convince River that they would be fine in the little bazaar. What could happen? The shipyard had plenty of security measures to keep it safe.

Kaylee didn't know which faction had grabbed hold of them. She did understand the rough and tumble words, the press of hands against her arms and back, the feel of a gun at her back and the sight of a pistol against River's cheek. One of the leering gang members stared at the two women with a critical eye. "Nah. They ain't Oppen's guys. Free agents or tourists, then," the man said, straightening up. "They'll do nice in the collection."

River's eyes were flat and dull. Kaylee took that to mean that the odds of the two of them getting out were slimmer than none; guns to their heads made it difficult for River to try to fight their way out. The gang members might have been unintelligent, but they were cunning. Guns trained closely on them, collars were welded shut around their throats and they were chained to posts in a dingy basement room somewhere past the docks. River looked more like a doll, an empty shell of herself. Kaylee hoped that the girl was using those Reader skills of hers to get in touch with the rest of the crew, even if they were spread out all over. Kaylee had more than an inkling of what the men planned to do with the rest of them; there was only a thin partition between their basement room and another one, and it was painfully obvious to hear what the men did to other girls chained up. She thought of Simon, knew that River had to be thinking of Jayne. The thing between River and Jayne was new and strange and sometimes almost painful to watch. They danced around each other, a game of words and glances and half-secret touches. Kaylee had thought that the newness of their relationship had explained her hesitancy. Now she knew better.

The men were _very_ unintelligent, however. They had the cunning that most men in the underbelly had, but they didn't know regular people very well. They certainly didn't recognize Kaylee or River from the Miranda reports. Kaylee didn't like to think of anyone as stupid, but these men certainly had an air of the willfully stupid around them. They hadn't even gone through Kaylee's or River's pockets. She had her spanner and multitools, and she knew River had a blade sewn into the bodice of her dress. Kaylee didn't like weapons, but a spanner was a heavy thing if wielded correctly.

There was random junk in the basement, and Kaylee's mind whirred as she considered the possibilities. Because she was _not_ going to let anything horrible happen to River. She was fragile enough at times, just figuring out what it was like being a girl in love. She didn't need the horrible things that had to be pouring into her head at the moment. Kaylee had her as a sister now (almost) and she took that kind of responsibility seriously. She knew that the two of them were new in the operation, and the gang members would want to start making money off of them right away. She had no intention of having to subject herself or River to that sort of thing, and she knew that the others would try their best to rescue them.

Kaylee had River stay toward the back of the area whenever footsteps approached. She did every depraved thing asked of her, if only to keep attention away from River. There was no way to tell how long they were down there, but it was horrible to see River retreat into herself. She looked more and more like the girl she had been after tumbling out of the containment unit she had been smuggled out of the Academy in. Kaylee had to do something. She had no idea how long they had been down in this dank room. Hunger and fear made the seconds stretch into minutes and hours. It could have been a day or a week, and while she knew that the Serenity crew would look for her, there couldn't have been a lot of clues to follow.

She rooted through the junk left behind in their corner of the room. It was trash left over from turned out pockets, things that had fallen through the cracks of the ceiling or the remnants of things that might have once been heat generators. She would build a bomb, she decided. There weren't good components to try to make a gun, but she could make a bomb with a lot of shrapnel in it. It would be more like a grenade than anything else, if only because there were no electrical components to make a remote detonator.

River was curled in a ball in the corner when footsteps approached. Kaylee was busy hiding what she had started to put together, so the man went after River. She snapped his neck quickly, almost as if she was running on autopilot. Kaylee rifled through the dead man's pockets. Dimly, she was aware that she should be horrified. River had killed someone, and she was still sitting there with a blank look on her face. Kaylee wondered if River was traumatized. Then she wondered if _she_ was getting traumatized, if doing unspeakable things or touching a dead man and stealing what was in his pockets meant something was wrong with her. But she broke apart the spare ammunition he had been carrying in his pocket to use as fuel in her little bomb. The gun was a lost cause, but she could hide it and maybe bluff their way out of this situation.

"Almost done with this, _mei mei,"_ Kaylee chirped. Kaylee shoved the man as far away from them as she could, trying to keep a smile pasted on her face for River's benefit. It was dark enough that hopefully his slumped body wouldn't be seen. If they got in trouble, she would take the blame. She was the one with the spanner and multitools. She was the one that looked strong enough to lift the debris.

"Yuh got yer choice down below," came the voice of one of their abductors. "Just got some fresh yesterday." Kaylee's skin crawled and she recoiled from the sound of that voice. "Yuh got twen'y minnits, else ya gotta pay for more time. Just so's we're on the up and up, my boy will stay there to keep the time for ya."

Two men wound up standing at the edge of the partition in front of River and Kaylee. One of them was Jayne. He almost seemed to be staring at River, as if asking for her forgiveness for what was about to happen. "That one'll do," he said, pointing at River.

The other man nodded and turned sideways. It gave the illusion of privacy but allowed him to keep watch with his peripheral vision. Jayne came closer and River kept herself impossibly still. She finally looked up as Jayne approached, her expression softening slightly. She gave him a nod, then laid down on the grimy floor, giving him permission. Kaylee turned away, not able to watch what had to happen next.

Kaylee was behind them, partially hidden by the post they were chained to. River and Jayne served as a good enough diversion for the guard by the partition. She stared at the chains linking them to the post. They were old, so she set about to prying open links with the pliers of her multitools. It was hard work, even so, and there was no way in the seven layers of hellfire that she would be able to get them open by the time Jayne's twenty minutes were up. She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't even realize the guard had seen her prying at the chains. "Hey! Whatcha doin' there?"

She whipped her head up and pointed the broken gun at him. He was only a few feet away from her. She could see River and Jayne disentangle themselves and try to rearrange their clothes. Neither really looked at each other, and Kaylee's heart broke a little for them. The idiot in front of her had his eyes on the gun, and obviously didn't know how to tell if a gun would fire properly or not. "Keys," she said, voice clipped and angry. "You got 'em?" He nodded, still eyeing the gun. "Then git to unlocking all the girls. _All of them."_

She didn't even recognize her own voice.

He hopped to it, hands shaking all the while. Kaylee rubbed her neck with one hand once she was free, then bent down carefully to pick up her bomb. The idiot unlocked all the girls, and there were close to twenty of them. Jayne had his guns out as well, and River had taken the man's pistol. The three of them had the idiot go back upstairs, leading all of them out of the dingy basement. The gang members up on the top floor were startled, and the other girls all made a break for it.

"Now, look. We c'n negotiate," the leader said, trying to sound soothing. One hand was up in a placating gesture, the other was on his gun.

"Hands up so we can see 'em!" Kaylee barked before Jayne could say anything. Startled, some of the men in the room did just that. "We're leavin' now." She kicked the idiot in front of her, sending him sprawling across the floor. The exit was just to their left, and they were almost through. She smiled sweetly at the leader of the gang. "You lot are horrible, terrible folks. You're all gonna get what's comin' to ya, I hope you know that." River went through first, then Jayne. Kaylee was the last one out of the door, and she almost wanted to laugh. Her gun didn't even work. She held up the bomb she made. "Here's somethin' to remember us by."

She tossed the bomb at the leader, and watched him catch it as she went through the door. There were shiny bits on it, and what looked like a little door handle. She hoped he was as dumb as he looked and opened the little door without thinking to question what a "gift" from a prisoner might be.

He was every bit as stupid as Kaylee had hoped.

An explosion ripped through the tiny little bomb in the middle of the room, sending shrapnel everywhere. She had picked the sharpest and rustiest pieces she could find; whatever didn't wound them seriously on impact would lead to tetanus or disease of some kind. She wasn't a doctor's fiancee for nothing.

Jayne led them to a different part of the docks and sat them down. His eyes were mostly for River. "You okay, _bao bei?"_ he asked gently.

"This girl will improve with increased distance from the scene of the crime," River replied tartly. "I am not so fragile as to break with this."

He looked relieved and grasped her hand with his. "I'll make it up to ya, I promise." River nodded and stepped on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "What's that for? It weren't no good."

"For wanting it to be," River said softly. "It will be next time."

Kaylee smiled at them, relieved herself. "Let's get back home. I miss my girl something fierce."

"You was amazing back there," Jayne murmured, leading them to where he had hidden the mule. "Like watching Zoe in action."

She could feel herself start to shake a little, and she realized she was still holding the broken gun. "It wasn't fun, Jayne. Not at all." She held out the gun, looking around for a place to discard it. Jayne took it from her and tucked it into his belt. "It don't work properly."

"Still good to throw," he replied. "Let's get out of here."

"I hope those girls get better," Kaylee murmured. "Those men were mean to 'em, and they didn't want to be there."

"Authorities are present," River said, visibly brightening when they caught sight of the mule. "Some have tales to tell. Survivors will find justice."

Kaylee was silent as they headed back to _Serenity._ She had never thought of herself as someone capable of hurting another human being before. She was the bright and bubbly sunshine girl on the ship. She made a weapon. She made something that could kill, and she hadn't thought twice about it. She had threatened to shoot someone in cold blood, too. What kind of person did that make her?

"My sister," River murmured, turning around in the mule to face her. River cocked her head to the side, warm brown eyes contemplating Kaylee. "A protector. One who cares deeply for family, who wanted only the best." She reached out toward Kaylee and caught her hand tightly. _"Xie xie."_

"It weren't nothing," Kaylee said, partly embarrassed and partly relieved there wasn't something awful and horrifying written into her skin.

"It was very much something," River corrected. She gave Kaylee a soft smile. "So know there is strength and will and knowledge, and that this would be reciprocated in kind if ever there comes a need."

Kaylee saw the outline of _Serenity_ looming large as they approached. Jayne had called ahead, drawing the others back to the ship. She was more than done with this world, and ready to be back up in the black where it was comfortable. Maybe she couldn't really have guessed that she had that kind of thing in her, but River was right. Kaylee had wanted to protect River. She hadn't really changed, not how it counted.

She smiled widely once they were in the cargo bay, and she breathed in deeply. "It's good to be home."

The End.


End file.
